{"id":397839,"date":"2019-03-02T11:05:11","date_gmt":"2019-03-02T10:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/facebook-wants-you-to-know-if-youre-getting-your-news-from-the-wrong-government\/"},"modified":"2019-03-02T11:05:11","modified_gmt":"2019-03-02T10:05:11","slug":"facebook-wants-you-to-know-if-youre-getting-your-news-from-the-wrong-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/facebook-wants-you-to-know-if-youre-getting-your-news-from-the-wrong-government\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook Wants You to Know if You\u2019re Getting Your News From the Wrong Government"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Jim Naureckas<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"In<\/p>\n

The statement of ownership In the Now<\/strong> was forced to run to be allowed back on Facebook<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

There’s a famous <\/span>polling experiment<\/span><\/a> that asked people in the Cold War-era US: <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Do you think the United States should let Communist newspaper reporters from other countries come in here and send back to their papers the news as they see it?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

When this question was posed on its own, only 36 percent of respondents said yes. But a separate sample was first asked:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Do you think a Communist country like Russia should let American newspaper reporters come in and send back to America the news as they see it?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

When the questions were asked together\u2014reminding people that restrictions on press freedom could be placed on their own country’s journalists, as well as on those of an official enemy\u2014support for allowing access to Communist reporters doubled to 73 percent. (Ninety percent said that US reporters should be allowed to report freely from Russia\u2014suggesting that only a relatively narrow slice of the population openly subscribed to the principle of free speech for me but not for thee.)<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>I thought of this experiment when Rania Khalek (who\u2019s written for FAIR<\/a>) told me that the viral video company she works for, <\/span>In the Now<\/b>, was taken off <\/span>Facebook<\/b> because of its indirect connection to the Russian government. (A majority stake in <\/span>In the Now<\/b>\u2019s parent company, <\/span>Maffick Media<\/b>, is owned by a subsidiary of <\/span>RT<\/b>\u2014a Moscow-based media group that, although organized as a private entity, is funded by the Russian government.)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"CNN:<\/p>\n

CNN<\/strong> (2\/28\/19<\/a>) reported on Maffick<\/strong>‘s Russian backing, noting “Maffick<\/strong>‘s videos are generally critical of US foreign policy and the mainstream American media.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Facebook<\/b> suspended the page of <\/span>In the Now<\/b>, along with three other pages run by <\/span>Maffick<\/b>\u2014the current affairs channel <\/span>Soapbox<\/b>, the environment-oriented <\/span>Waste-Ed<\/b> and the history-focused <\/span>BackThen<\/b>\u2014after the social media giant was asked about the <\/span>RT<\/b>-connected pages by <\/span>CNN<\/b>.<\/span> CNN<\/b> (<\/span>2\/18\/19<\/span><\/a>), in turn, reported it was tipped off to the <\/span>In the Now<\/b>\/<\/span>RT<\/b> connection by the Alliance for Securing Democracy, a group based at <\/span>US government\u2013funded<\/span><\/a> German Marshall Fund.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>In the Now<\/b> is back on <\/span>Facebook<\/b> again\u2014after a ten-day suspension\u2014and returned with this rather user-unfriendly description: <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

In the Now<\/b> is a brand of <\/span>Maffick<\/b> which is owned and operated by Anissa Naouai and <\/span>Ruptly GmbH<\/b>, a subsidiary of <\/span>RT<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s not particularly helpful if you want to know what <\/span>In the Now<\/b> does, of course, but disclosure is good, right? For the goose but not the gander, apparently: Among the US-funded institutions with <\/span>Facebook<\/b> pages are, well, the German Marshall Fund. Its <\/span>description<\/span><\/a> just reads, \u201cStrengthening Transatlantic Cooperation.\u201d Will that page be taken down until the Fund acknowledges where its money comes from?<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>How about the <\/span>PBS NewsHour<\/b>, also <\/span>funded<\/span><\/a> by the US government? No mention of that on <\/span>Facebook<\/b><\/a>: Just, \u201cOn air and online, the <\/span>PBS NewsHour<\/b> provides in-depth analysis of the issues that matter to you.\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>NPR<\/b>\u2019s <\/span>Facebook<\/b> page<\/span><\/a> seems to go out of its way to conceal the fact that it\u2019s US government\u2013supported, calling itself \u201ca privately supported, not-for-profit membership organization.\u201d Maybe the P stands for \u201cPrivate\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Radio<\/p>\n

Full-fledged propaganda services are not required by Facebook<\/strong> to reveal their government connections–if it’s a Facebook<\/strong>-approved government.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Even straightforward propaganda outlets of the US government don\u2019t have to identify themselves as such on <\/span>Facebook<\/b>. Take <\/span>Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty<\/b>, set up at the height of the Cold War to broadcast the US government\u2019s version of reality behind the Iron Curtain\u2014and still going strong almost 70 years later. Its \u201cAbout\u201d on <\/span>Facebook<\/b> reads<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Uncensored news. Responsible and open debate. Specialized coverage of Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, Caucasus, Iran, Balkans, South Asia, Eastern Europe. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

For those who go the extra mile and click on \u201cSee More\u201d under \u201cWho We Are,\u201d you do get this misleading semi-acknowledgement:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

RFE\/RL<\/b> is registered with the IRS as a private, nonprofit Sec. 501(c)3 corporation, and is funded by a grant from the US Congress through the<\/span> United States Agency for Global Media<\/span><\/a> (USAGM) as a private grantee.<\/span> RFE\/RL<\/b>‘s editorial independence is protected by US law.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Yes, <\/span>RFE\/RL<\/b> is organized as a private entity\u2014just like <\/span>RT<\/b> is. But just as the head of <\/span>RT<\/b> is <\/span>also the head<\/span><\/a> of the Russian state international news agency, the head of <\/span>RFE\/RL<\/b> is <\/span>appointed<\/span><\/a> by the head of the USAGM\u2014a government official picked by the president. That\u2019s a funny kind of \u201cindependence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Facebook<\/b> page<\/span><\/a> of <\/span>Voice of America<\/b>, the US government\u2019s main broadcast outlet, is even squirrelier. There doesn\u2019t seem to be any acknowledgement at all that <\/span>VoA<\/b> is connected to the US government\u2014just the slogan, “The news may be good or bad. We shall tell you the truth”; the claim that it has \u201cthe world’s most interesting stories\u201d; and information on how you can \u201chave the best of <\/span>VoA News<\/b> delivered directly to your inbox each day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re thinking that <\/span>Facebook<\/b>\u201490 percent of whose customers are not in the United States\u2014should treat Russian-backed outlets differently than US-backed outlets because the US supports <\/span>peace<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>democracy<\/span><\/a>, or doesn\u2019t <\/span>use social media<\/span><\/a> to try to manipulate other nations…. Well, this is why it\u2019s important to get your information from a variety of sources.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just US outlets that get to conceal their government funding on <\/span>Facebook<\/b>. The <\/span>BBC<\/b> doesn\u2019t <\/span>mention<\/span><\/a> that it\u2019s controlled and funded by the British government\u2014only that its \u201cmission is to enrich your life. To inform, educate and entertain.\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>At <\/span>Al Jazeera English<\/b>\u2019s <\/span>Facebook<\/b> page<\/span><\/a>, you learn, \u201cWe are the voice of the voiceless\u201d\u2014not that they are owned by the monarchy of Qatar.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Facebook<\/b> needs to have one rule for whether government-funded outlets need to disclose their connections. And it needs to apply that rule consistently.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Featured image: Maffick’s Anissa Naouai and Rania Khalek respond to Facebook<\/strong> censorship (Soapbox<\/strong>, 2\/27\/19<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

This piece was reprinted by RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission from FAIR<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Jim Naureckas The statement of ownership In the Now was forced to run to be allowed back on Facebook. There’s a famous polling experiment that asked people in the Cold War-era US: Do you think the United States should let Communist newspaper reporters from other countries come in here and send back to their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2521,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[519],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-397839","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-newswire"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397839\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}